Most black units excluded from World War II combat

Mar. 15, 2010 11:00 PM

Written by

About 900,000 black Americans served in the Army during World War II, but only one black division, the 92nd, saw infantry combat in Europe, according to historynet.com.

Most African Americans in the military were assigned to segregated construction or supply units. The government excluded black soldiers from combat until the spring of 1944 and did not end segregation in the armed forces until July 26, 1948, three years after World War II.

Robert Shumpert is 89 and lives in Selmer. He was drafted in the spring of 1943, served in the Army until November 1945 and was assigned to the 1323rd Engineer Regiment, an all-black unit. He drove a truck and delivered supplies to the front lines in Europe during World War II.

"Nobody that I knew complained that they didn't get to fight," Shumpert said. "That's just the way it was, and nothing was said about it."

The black units worked together, apart from white units, he said. The only mixing of races occurred on the troop transport ships.

"There were blacks and whites all over the ship, and we all had fun," he said. The only time segregation came into play was at chow time.

"Blacks didn't eat with whites," he said. "We had our own mess hall."

Segregation was not as prevalent in Europe as in the United States, he said. When he got the chance to do some sightseeing in Paris and London after the war, he noticed the differences.

"You could mix with whites," he said. "And you could sit where you wanted to on the buses. You didn't have to go to the back. I would say we were treated better over there than at home."

When Shumpert returned from the war, he and his wife rode a Tri-State bus from Booneville, Miss., to Selmer. They had to go to the back of the bus and sit behind a curtain that separated blacks from white passengers.

Such treatment bothered Shumpert even more after his war experiences, but it was the law of the land at the time.

"When you're trying to get along, you take it," he said.

President Harry Truman signed an executive order in 1948 integrating the military. The government soon mandated equality of treatment and opportunity and made it illegal, per military law, to make a racist remark, according to trumanlibrary.org.

Still, the last all-black Army unit wasn't disbanded until 1954.

The most famous segregated military units that saw combat in World War II were the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion, which served under Gen. George S. Patton.

"If the integration of the armed services now seems to have been inevitable in a democratic society, it nevertheless faced opposition that had to be overcome and problems that had to be solved through the combined efforts of political and civil rights leaders and civil and military officials," said Morris J. MacGregor Jr., in his book "Integration of the Armed Forces 1940-1965." "In many ways, the military services were at the cutting edge in the struggle for racial equality."